North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the testing of a super-large multiple rocket launcher in North Korea, in this undated photo released on September by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Experts say South Korea’s military expansion is worrying the North. [KCNA via Reuters]

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea and North Korea have continued to pour resources into modernizing their militaries despite a frenzy of diplomacy since 2018, data shows, creating a point of tension that has sharpened as talks have stalled.

Military buildups on both sides of the heavily fortified border between the two nations have come to the forefront with recent short-range missile launches by North Korea, perfecting an arsenal it says is necessary to defend against new South Korean weapons.

On Wednesday North Korean state media reported that leader Kim Jong Un had personally supervised on Tuesday the test firing of a large multiple-rocket launch system, a type of weapon analysts say threatens forces in South Korea.